The Snowshoe

For the 3rd straight year, Q Haven cooked the Snowshoe Grilling Challenge in Abington, Massachusetts. We have never done well at this contest, but it always proves to be a great time, and this year was no different.

The temperatures were cold but the sun was shining bright when we arrived at the contest site Saturday morning. I'm getting better at thinning out what I bring to grilling events. They pose a challenge, as I do not bring the camper, which is packed with all our BBQ gear. There is no reason to bring it, as it is not really a kitchen trailer like other teams have. It is more for comfort during overnights, so I don't bring it.

We brought two cars, because Max would be joining us. We were on the fence about bringing him, as we were worried that he could get sick because of the cold. But we decided to bring him anyway, knowing we could always bring him inside the VFW hall if he got cold.

So we were one of the last teams to arrive, and got set up towards the back of the contest area. We were next to Lakeside Smokers, so it was all good. We were also next to the Porkaholics, who live very close to us in Eastern Connecticut and are a really nice group of people.

The first category was fish, steak or fillet. We did a couple of practice cooks leading up to the contest, and the recipe I settled on was a grilled salmon with a maple mustard glaze. The prep and cooking went well, and the fish was cooked just right as the turn in time approached. While I liked the entry, I never thought it would have a chance to take first place. But it did. Go figure.

This is the only picture we have of the fish, courtesy of http://www.pigtrip.net/.

Next was pork tenderloin. I thought that turning it in as a BBQ type entry may do well, as many of the people who judge grilling contests are BBQ judges. I hit the tenderloins with BBQ rub and smoked them for a few hours, then finished them with a vinegar based BBQ sauce (three guesses).

I overcooked the tenderloins and they were dry. The entry overall was just blah. Finished 13th out of 19, probably right where it belonged.

Next was sausage fatty, which also came in 13th. This was disappointing to me, as I really thought the fatty came out great. I will just assume that either I hit a lower scoring table, or that there were some really great fatty entries and mine just didn't stack up. Either way, I was disappointed, as I felt that this was our best entry of the day.

The final category was burger. I decided after kicking around some ideas to make it with bacon, smoked cheddar and scallion mayo. This is a burger we have made at home and really liked. However, I decided to use Omaha Steak burgers, which may not have been the best idea. They are thin, and I overcooked them trying to get a perfect melt of the cheese. I'm sure the judges thought they were just pre-made frozen crap burgers, and scored them accordingly. 16th place, probably right about where it belonged.


So we finished 10th overall. A disappointing finish for sure but I was really happy to take the 1st place fish. Taking 1st in any category is an accomplishment, especially with the stout list of teams that were on hand. One of those were the guys from Wildwood BBQ NYC, who won grand championship honors.

Max had a great time with his BBQ friends too.

Thanks to Gary and Michelle Taft for running the contest. They run it with the cooks and the community in mind, a complete volunteer effort. They charge low entry fees and came up with some awesome trophies, one of which we are proud to now own. Awesome job guys!

Now it looks like we will have a little bit of a layoff. I have decided not to cook Salisbury, Maryland, and there are no BBQ contests in the Northeast until New Hampshire. We may cook the Oyster Bay grilling contest in May, but childcare logistics may make that impossible. Kind of a bummer in the short term, but the Summer schedule looks great, and it is not that far away!

Back From Snowshoe

Cooked the Snowshoe grilling challenge yesterday. Got a great call, first place fish, but otherwise tanked with a 10th place finish out of 19 teams. Despite the finish, it was good to be out there again. I'll post a full recap in the next few days.

Lack Of Motivation

It's a combination of that and a lack of subject matter that explains my lack of posts lately. I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking over the last few weeks. I had planned to make a few different types of wings for the Super Bowl, but got lazy and just made buffalo chicken wraps. They were good, but the wings would have been a lot better!

Have been starting to plan for the Snowshoe Grilling Challenge next month. It's the only contest that is on my schedule in the near term. The categories will be fun: Fish, Burger, Pork Tenderloin and Sausage Fatty. I am most excited about the burger. I have strong opinions about what should and should not be on a burger, and lets see if the judges concur. Oh yeah, I have to cook it well too...

Maybe I'll do a burger post soon...

I had really hoped to cook the Freeze Your Butt Off on February 28th and March 1st in Maynard, Massachusetts. However, Sheila will be away that weekend on business, returning home Sunday morning. The good news is that she is flying into Boston, and we timed her return flight from Montreal so that she will get in at around 10AM. If all goes well, we will head up to Maynard after she lands and visit with the brave teams that attend.

For those who are on the fence about this contest, I suggest that you enter. It was cold last year, no question about that, but it was a blast. Saturday night, the I Smell Smoke!!! team had a fireplace going, and the partying went deep into the night.


There was also a potluck dinner Saturday, where the teams all cooked up some great stuff.

Wish I was cooking it....sometimes life gets in the way of my fun.

Cost of Competing #2

Case Study #2: Snowshoe Grilling Challenge
Abington, Mass. March 29, 2008

Unlike the FYBO, the Snowshoe was a straight grilling contest, with the categories of fish steak, sausage fatty, beef of any kind and vegetable.

- Entry Fee: $35
- Fish Category: $41
- Fattie Category: $15
- Beef Category: $34
- Vegetable Category: $19
- Garnish: $10
- Gas $50
- Total: $194
- Prize Money: 0
- Calls: 0
- Trophies: 0

Net: $-194

Since this was a one day grilling event and the drive was less than two hours, there was no need to bring the trailer, which saved a lot in gas. We clearly overspent on the fish and beef categories. Was a fun contest, and grilling events are a crap shoot when it comes to scoring. Fortunately, there was no "other" column at this contest, because we were able to do the event with all existing resources, ie foil pans, gloves, charcoal, wood, etc.

Next up will be a look at the Oyster Bay contest earlier this month, with a much more depressing bottom line!

By the way, I've had a brisket on since midnight, and will post some pictures of the finished product tonight.